Computing devices may be integrated with biometric readers, often times, to increase security for access to the device which may contain sensitive information. Typically, biometric security systems allow a user to gain access if biometric information submitted by the user matches a previously established and stored template, which is a data representation of a source biometric sample. In some implementations, this is accomplished by an enrollment operation and a recognition operation. The operation of enrollment entails collecting, processing, and storing biometric information of an individual user. The operation of recognition entails detecting biometric information and comparing with the information stored at the enrollment stage.
During the enrollment operation of many biometric security systems, a user provides a source biometric sample of biometric data including, but not limited to, fingerprints, iris features, facial features, and voice information. This original biometric sample is processed and features are extracted. The features are used to generate a template against which biometric samples of users are compared for subsequent access.
There may be a tolerance associated with a template. Generally, tolerance indicates the degree of allowable difference between the characteristics or features of the user's biometric sample to components of the template. During the recognition operation of many biometric security systems, if the characteristics match the respective features of the template within a pre-determined tolerance, the user is authenticated for access to the device or particular components of the device. If, however, the characteristics of the user's biometric sample do not match the template, access is denied.